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It's "ignorant" only if one narrowly defines (or conveniently ignores common definitions of) anarchy. Anarchy can be a state of political confusion or disorder

by zecho 15y ago

It's "ignorant" only if one narrowly defines (or conveniently ignores common definitions of) anarchy. Anarchy can be a state of political confusion or disorder and/or defined as an absence of authority. Both are common usages. Chaos is confusion and disorder. So sometimes anarchy is equivalent by definition.

king_jester 15y ago
Anarchy is only a state of political confusion or disorder if you believe that a central authority is a requirement for a political system. Anarchists believe and participate in non-hierarchical social structures, which does not inherently lead to chaos, confusion, or disorder. People do colloquially use anarchy to mean confusion and disorder, but that has a lot to do with societal acceptance and condition in regards to central authority and power structures. In a piece directly about government, to use the word anarchy is this fashion is dishonest and in poor taste.
- slowpoke 15y ago
  Edit: Woops, this was supposed to be an answer to your parent (zecho), not you. A common definition must not necessarily be a correct definition - ask any scientist, there's probably a number of terms that are misused by the general populace in every field. As a very general example, theory and hypothesis come to mind. When most people say "theory", they mean what in a scientific context would be referred to as a hypothesis - an unproven claim that requires verification. Now, we can argue whether or not evolution of language justifies using wrong definitions of a term, but technically, defining "anarchy" as "chaos" is - in my opinion - not correct. The term denotes a state of society where there is no governing authority, but does not imply the absence of rules, laws or values. The major problem I have with these two definitions is that people who assume the negative one (anarchy == chaos) are, for the most part, not aware of the other meaning, and that quickly leads to confusion - which is sometimes used intentionally to defame opponents in an argument. I personally try to make it clear upfront which definition I am using (anarchy == absence of government or authority), but it's sometimes still hard to escape the negative association of the term.
- zecho 15y ago
  > In a piece directly about government, to use the word anarchy is this fashion is dishonest and in poor taste. That's a fair assessment, I think. Good point.

by zecho 15y ago

king_jester 15y ago

Anarchy is only a state of political confusion or disorder if you believe that a central authority is a requirement for a political system. Anarchists believe and participate in non-hierarchical social structures, which does not inherently lead to chaos, confusion, or disorder. People do colloquially use anarchy to mean confusion and disorder, but that has a lot to do with societal acceptance and condition in regards to central authority and power structures. In a piece directly about government, to use the word anarchy is this fashion is dishonest and in poor taste.

slowpoke 15y ago
Edit: Woops, this was supposed to be an answer to your parent (zecho), not you. A common definition must not necessarily be a correct definition - ask any scientist, there's probably a number of terms that are misused by the general populace in every field. As a very general example, theory and hypothesis come to mind. When most people say "theory", they mean what in a scientific context would be referred to as a hypothesis - an unproven claim that requires verification. Now, we can argue whether or not evolution of language justifies using wrong definitions of a term, but technically, defining "anarchy" as "chaos" is - in my opinion - not correct. The term denotes a state of society where there is no governing authority, but does not imply the absence of rules, laws or values. The major problem I have with these two definitions is that people who assume the negative one (anarchy == chaos) are, for the most part, not aware of the other meaning, and that quickly leads to confusion - which is sometimes used intentionally to defame opponents in an argument. I personally try to make it clear upfront which definition I am using (anarchy == absence of government or authority), but it's sometimes still hard to escape the negative association of the term.
zecho 15y ago
> In a piece directly about government, to use the word anarchy is this fashion is dishonest and in poor taste. That's a fair assessment, I think. Good point.